Men’s Wimbledon 2018 – Outright Winner Betting Odds

To Win Men’s Wimbledon Title 2018; Best odds in bold; Each-Way Place Terms: Win Only.

Women’s Wimbledon 2018 – Outright Winner Betting

To Win Wimbledon Women’s Title 2018; Best odds in bold; Each-Way Place Terms: Win Only.

No Odds Available

Many Tennis Betting Options

The top online bookies offer odds on all aspects of tennis betting. As well as tournament odds on the outright winner, they bet on each match and the set scores. You can even wager whether there will be a tie break in a set and peruse up to 20 other different markets.

Gambling on this racket sport has certainly come of age. The appetite has now extended far beyond the big four big tournaments that make up the Grand Slams. You can now bet live, in play, with an online bookmaker or sportsbook on a first round match in a tournament somewhere you have probably never heard of between players whose recent performances you will almost certainly have to look up if, indeed, you have heard of them at all.

The ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) organises over 70 international competitions across the globe, throughout the year, and they are just the tip of the iceberg from a punting perspective. You can even bet on the chances of rain or other climatic disruptions forcing Wimbledon to be extended into an additional week. On certain occasions you may even be able to stake on the colour of the dress some of the top female players will be wearing.

While the types of bet available are extensive and the subject of them can verge on the outright ridiculous, the national volume of turnover for any individual country is largely dictated by the overall popularity of the sport in that country and, perhaps most significantly, on the quality and popularity of that country’s own players, especially in the men’s game.

Tennis betting seems to be fuelled primarily by patriotic punting on national heroes. While it is enjoying an upsurge in the UK on the back of Andy Murray mania, the reverse trend is true across the pond in the US.

Murray took the UK to a new high in 2013 when becoming the first Briton to win the men’s title for 77 years, Fred Perry being the previous success. In beating the world no.1 seed Novak Djokovic, Murray gave a boost to the nation and the Scot from Dunblane inadvertently encouraged greater engagement with tennis punting.

The previous year in 2012 he had broken new ground with an appearance in the Wimbledon Final, where he lost to Roger Federer in an intriguing game. He then got revenge on that foe in the London 2012 Olympic final on the same SW19 Centre Court just a matter of weeks later. Then Murray became the first Briton to land a Grand Slam for a lifetime when being crowned champion of the US Open. The best was yet to come as he landed that 2013 Wimbledon trophy.

Unlike this Murray-led revival, in the US the game has, predictably, never enjoyed the scale of following attracted by American football but it has now fallen behind Nascar racing (a poor relation to Formula One) in the popularity stakes.

The Americans want players who are both consistently successful and charismatic. In the 1970s and early 80s, enthusiasm was engendered by an awesome choice of heroes.

There was John McEnroe for those who appreciated incredible artistry and could tolerate the antics of a rather hot headed hero who would sometimes make the headlines for reasons other than his consummate skill in play.

On the flip side of the coin there was Jimmy Connors. He was reliable, consistent, professional, incredibly powerful and fiercely determined. He epitomised the traditional values of the ‘all American boy’ and, crucially, carried away a large number of the trophies. In 1974 he won three of the four Grand Slams – he was unable to enter the French Open that year because of his commitments to World Team Tennis.

When both Connors and McEnroe were approaching their sell-by dates for the top level, wagering revenues were serendipitously bolstered by a new kid on the block, Andre Agassi. Agassi seemed to appear from nowhere (he actually came from Nevada) bringing an extremely distinctive and colourful new character to the US and other courts in more ways than one. Exciting to watch with a combination of artistry and pure power, his film star good looks helped to increase viewing audiences in the US and beyond. He is credited by some for single-handedly increasing the popularity of the sport in the 1990s. Neither Connors nor McEnroe had anything like his pin-up appeal. Female tennis fans switched on the TV just to watch him, journalists scribbled ad infinitum about him and top companies wanted him to appear in their commercials. Agassi was a new and marketable figure that people wanted to attach to their corporate brand.

Of course there was Pete Sampras too. He certainly ticked the box in terms of consistent achievement but, as a relatively reserved character, he might have beaten Agassi on court on occasions but he simply could not compete in the charisma stakes.

Today, US tennis betting is suffering significantly as American fans are becoming increasingly disengaged. They may have had women’s champions in the shape of Serena Williams with sister, Venus but the women’s game is clearly not enough to maintain the nation’s appetite. The men’s game appears to be what really matters for the US punter.

The talents of America’s leading player, Andy Roddick might have been more appreciated in a country that is not used to supporting multiple Grand Slam tournament winners. Yes, he was popular, but he simply didn’t have the degree of charisma of some of their former champions. He also hadn’t enjoyed the degree of success that the US public have been programmed to expect from their champions.

It is not enough that the US public are witnessing the golden age of an all time great in the shape of Roger Federer or the unnatural force that is Rafael Nadal. They are simply not sufficiently inspired by heroes who are not made in the USA.

If the US situation is a cause for concern, the UK is certainly not subject to the same downward curve. The UK had endured years of hope that generally resulted in disappointment with the charming, talented but ultimately ineffective Tim Henman. The English gentleman was infinitely likeable, if dull, but generally failed to make it to the final on home soil, or anywhere else for that matter. He was, at the time, by far the best and only bet on offer to keep British hopes alive beyond the second round at home or abroad.

A few years later Andy Murray appeared. A young man from Scotland, Murray, unlike Henman, appeared to have not only the talent but the aggression and the sheer hunger necessary to win. He was also very obviously in need of media training and a hair cut. He ticked off those requirements and is now feted.

With Grand Slam successes behind him, Murray has helped restore some much-needed confidence in the British game. Whatever further success he achieves in the future, the UK’s patriotic punters will be supporting him heavily with their cash in the tennis betting odds.